A pigeon was sitting 9 meters from the base of a telephone pole and flew 15 meters to reach the top of the pole. How tall is the telephone pole? metersSubmit

This problem can be solved using the Pythagorean theorem, which states that in a right triangle, the square of the length of the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of the squares of the lengths of the other two sides.

Here, the pigeon's flight path forms the hypotenuse of a right triangle, the distance from the base of the pole to where the pigeon was initially sitting forms one side, and the height of the pole forms the other side.

Let's denote:

• the height of the pole as a (which we're trying to find),
• the distance from the base of the pole to where the pigeon was initially sitting as b = 9 meters,
• the pigeon's flight path as c = 15 meters.

According to the Pythagorean theorem, we have:

a² + b² = c²

Substituting the known values, we get:

a² + 9² = 15²

Solving this equation will give us the height of the pole.

a² + 81 = 225

Subtract 81 from both sides:

a² = 225 - 81

a² = 144

Finally, take the square root of both sides to solve for a:

a = √144

a = 12

So, the telephone pole is 12 meters tall.